Sarkozy puts France on green track

Nicolas Sarkozy launched his "green revolution" for France yesterday, styling himself as an international environmental crusader and urging Europe to tax imports from countries that do not respect the Kyoto protocol.

After an unprecedented three-month consultation with the green lobby, farmers and business leaders, Mr Sarkozy endorsed a raft of proposals, from eliminating the waste of household energy to halving France's heavy pesticide use.

He sought to boost his credentials further by inviting Al Gore, the environmental Nobel laureate, to the launch.

But France lags so far behind other European countries on green issues that campaigners acknowledged it would take years to catch up. The country's reputation as the biggest user of pesticides in Europe and questions from French environmental groups over its commitment to nuclear energy meant campaigners felt the country was only just dragging itself into the green era.

Mr Sarkozy said that by 2020, all new buildings should "produce more energy than they consume," without elaborating. By 2010, incandescent light bulbs and single-paned windows would be banned.

Backing proposals for cleaner cars and organic school dinners once a week was the easy part of the negotiations. But Mr Sarkozy stopped short of immediately endorsing the green lobby's demand for a carbon tax. He put the ball into the court of the European Union by saying only that he would consider the idea.

In recent days environmentalists had said the adoption of the tax was the real test of whether the new French leader was serious about protecting the environment. Last night, Greenpeace said huge strides had been made by Mr Sarkozy but some of the plans remained hazy.

During the sometimes heated consultations, certain proposals got unanimous backing, such as shifting lorries off France's major motorways by insisting freight is instead carried on two vast new cross-country rail links. Road transport, which is responsible for a quarter of French carbon emissions, was a key target, with the emphasis on encouraging cleaner cars. France will also build 1,200 miles of new high-speed railways.

Other more controversial proposals were dropped, such as lowering road speed limits. Parliament, dominated by Mr Sarkozy's centre-right party, must vote on the proposals early next year. But with spring regional elections looming, some activists feared MPs would shy from tricky issues or try to water down proposals.

The use of pesticides also caused a heated row. France is the biggest agricultural producer in Europe and has a strong farming and chemical lobby. Mr Sarkozy proposed halving pesticide use over the next 10 years, saying it was not just the responsibility of farmers but also of the companies that "recommended and sell these products".

On genetically modified crops, another explosive issue in France, he ordered a temporary freeze on commercial crops pending new research on possible contamination risks. The anti-GM camp said the measures were insufficient.

But the elephant in the room throughout the talks was France's reliance on nuclear power, which generates 80% of its electricity. The government said the nuclear issue was not up for discussion. The Green party accused the government of a "blackout" and Le Monde said nuclear energy was the "ghost in the wardrobe" during the consultations. But the president said yesterday he did not want to build more nuclear sites in France.